August
8, 2003
Around the Island Swim: Publicity stunt turns into
internationally known event
By BILL LeCONEY Staff Writer, (609) 272-7187, E-Mail
ATLANTIC CITY - It wasn't a bet, Richard
"Boomer" Blair insists. It was a challenge by a
savvy man named Jim Toomey, who thought it would be a good
way to bring added publicity to the seaside resort.
"Do you think anyone could go all the way
around?" Toomey asked.
This was in 1953. Toomey dared someone, anyone, to swim
around Absecon Island - 221/2 miles - beginning at the
Steel Pier on the Boardwalk, through the rough surf to the
Longport jetty, behind the island on the backbay, through
the swirling Absecon inlet and back to Steel Pier.
He needed a pair of good swimmers - guinea pigs - to make
his idea float. He found a pair of Atlantic City
lifeguards - "forward-type people," Blair said,
"with a good opinion of themselves."
Toomey asked the question. One of the guys answered: Not
for nothing. "They'd want money - $200 apiece,"
Blair said. "So (Toomey) raised the money from local
businesses and away they went."
That's how Blair found himself in a lifeguard boat, rowing
in front of Ed Solitaire, 47, and Ed "Dutch"
Stetser, 45, slipping them food and even a flask of brandy
(so he says) as they stroked and paddled around the
island.
"I was there," said Blair, 78, of Brigantine.
"I'm the last of the Mohicans. The swimmers are dead.
Toomey's dead. Another guy, Elmer Draper - when I got
tired, he rowed, but he didn't have to do much."
The tradition began 50 years ago. The swim has changed
considerably, getting a more international flavor, going
through ups and downs and a 12-year absence from
1965-1977. The latest edition occurs Saturday, beginning
at 9 a.m. at Gardner's Basin, and there are only two
Americans, much less locals, competing for the $25,000 or
so in purse money.
It was different then. Blair said Solitaire swam the
backstroke for much of the way, and wore sunglasses
because of his bad eyesight. "When it got dark,
Toomey would beat on the back of the boat, and he would
swim in our direction by the sound."
Solitaire and Stetser were in the water for more than 11
hours that day. Solitaire complained about the cold and
drank about a quart of brandy on the way around, Blair
said. Stetser trailed by about a mile, and tried to get
the boat to stay with him so he could have some company.
Around Vermont Avenue, with the Steel Pier "lit up
like a Christmas tree" in the near distance, Blair
said Solitaire complained he was getting seasick and
couldn't go on.
"I gave him a few choice words, driving him, and he
kept saying, 'Where am I?' We kept hollering at him.
Finally, he made the end, touched the ladder at Steel
Pier, but he had to climb up about 15 feet. I thought he
was going to fall off into the boat, so I got under him
and pushed him up."
Stetser came in about an hour later, Blair said. There was
a crowd at Steel Pier to greet the men, and a local radio
station interviewed them. According to Blair, Solitaire
and Stetser spent all of their prize money that night
going around the island again, this time from tavern to
tavern.
It could have ended there, but it didn't. Toomey's dream
to stage a race with a top international field became
reality in 1954 and continued for the next 10 years.
Every top distance swimmer of the era competed in the
race, including Tom Park, Cliff Lumsden, Alfredo Camarero,
John LaCoursiere and Greta Anderson. Park won the event
three times and his Toronto buddy, Lumsden, won twice.
Camarero, from Argentina, upset the field in 1957.
Denmark's Anderson was the top woman swimmer in the early
years. Herman Willemse, "The Flying Dutchman,"
reeled off five straight victories from 1960-64.
The swim went dormant in 1965 as the city suffered through
some lean years, but in 1978, Jim Whelan, a guard on the
Atlantic City Beach Patrol, turned his attention to the
conquest of the island. Whelan swam solo in a record time
of 8 hours, 30 minutes, and the flame was re-ignited.
Later that summer, a group of local lifeguards took up the
challenge, with future race director Sid Cassidy topping
the field. The race resumed as an international event in
1979. Californian Jim Barry won it in a record 7 hours and
18 minutes, one minute ahead of Cassidy.
But it was another Californian, Paul Asmuth, who would
leave the biggest mark on the swim. Asmuth, a distance
swimmer in college, saw a story in a magazine and decided
to give it a try for the first time in Atlantic City in
1980. He won that race and seven more, up until 1990.
In recent years, the swim has had its share of amazing
performances, as well as a few controversies. Barry's old
course record has been shattered six times in the last 12
years, beginning when Shelley Taylor-Smith of Australia
won the race two straight years in 1991-92, becoming the
first woman to place first overall.
Stephane Lecat of France broke the seven-hour barrier in
1996, then set the current record of 6 hours, 54 minutes
in 2001, but with a qualifier: the course direction was
reversed that year because of tide conditions.
David Meca of Spain won the race two straight years
(1999-2000), but he was disqualified in 1999 after FINA,
the international swimming federation which now sanctions,
upheld a suspension for a banned substance.
The race was almost cancelled in 1995 before AtlantiCare
stepped in to boost the purse on the eve of the race. Last
year, the swim was not included on the FINA World Cup
circuit and drew only 11 swimmers.
Local swimmers have made their mark on the swim. Samantha
Chabotar of Egg Harbor Township was the first female
finisher in 1996. John Kenny of the ACBP finished second
to Igor Majcen of Slovenia last year after challenging for
the lead. And he did it without brandy.
NOTES: A fund-raising "Twilight Cruise" ($25 per
person) is set to leave Gardner's Basin at 7:45 p.m.
tonight. For information, call Carol at (609) 641-8808.
... Any individuals or businesses that would like to help
sponsor the Around the Island Swim should call race
director Mike Giegerich at (609) 926-0714, or (609)
204-2873.
JUST THE FACTS
2003 Atlantic City Around the Island Swim
WHAT: A 221/2-mile marathon swim around Absecon Island,
including a seven-mile ocean leg and 13-mile backbay leg,
that is part of the FINA World Cup Marathon series.
WHEN: Begins 9 a.m. Saturday at Gardner's Basin in
Atlantic City (amateur swim begins at 8 a.m.) and proceeds
clockwise around the island.
WHO: Twenty-five of the world's best long-distance
swimmers, including defending Atlantic City champions Igor
Majcen of Slovenia and Shelley Clark of Australia.
WHERE TO WATCH: Best vantage points are Gardner's Basin
for start/finish; Atlantic City jetty and Steel Pier;
beaches in Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate and Longport;
Longport jetty area; along the bay in Margate, Ventnor and
Atlantic City; inland waterway and Dorset Avenue Bridge in
Ventnor.
|
|
